Should The MTA Say Goodbye To Subway Platform Trash Cans?

If you couldn’t find a trash can in a subway station, would you hold onto your trash until you found one someplace else? That’s what the MTA is banking on, as it announced this week it will remove more trash cans from stations (none in our area, yet).

It started out with a pilot program at two stations in 2011, expanded to 10 in 2012, and will soon add 29 more stations along the J and M lines. The MTA says that at those stations where they removed trash cans, they’ve seen a 66% reduction in the number of bags collected, a decreased — or unchanged — rodent population, and less litter.

“Eleven refuse collection trains cover 359 out of the system’s 468 stations with the remainder visited by refuse collection trucks,” the release notes, citing the massive undertaking that is collecting trash in the subway system. “The refuse collection trains compete with passenger trains for space along the tracks and their overnight movements can be hampered by system maintenance which may require the closing of line segments.”

From the sounds of it, this pilot program could become the norm, if the MTA sees it as an improvement. But do you?

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Photo by iwalktowork